Filing cabinet joint



March 30, 1954 ADLER 2,673,782

FILING CABINET JOINT Filed April 14, 1952 Fu1..l

INVlNTOR. J A c K A P L E E Hwy.

A TOR/YE) Patented Mar. 30, 1954 omeg- FILING CABINET J OINT Jack Adler,St. Louis, Mo. Application April 14, 1952, Serial No. 282,254

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in sheet metal filing cabinetsand more specifically to a construction for joining several of theessential elements of the same into a rugged and firmly interlockedrelation to enable the cabinet to withstand normal usage over unusuallylong periods of time without becoming wobbly or otherwise unstable.

One of the principal objects of myinvention is to construct theinterlocking elements in such a manner that the factory assembly of thecabinets may be done economically, rapidly, and easily on the usualproduction line basis of commercial practice.

The invention has among its other objects the production of such a jointthat will be neat and simple, have a minimum of extraneous fasteningelements, and which will be otherwise satisfactory andelficient for usewherever deemed applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown anddescribed, and the uses mentioned, .will be obvious to those skilled inthe art to which the invention appertains, as will be more clearlydisclosed herein.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like orcorresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a filing cabinetstructure, showing the joint between the side wall, front rail and sliderail;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a fragment of the side wall adjacentsaid joint, and showing a portion of the front rail interlocked inassembled position;

Figure 3 is across-sectional detail, taken substantially along the line3-3 of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective detail of one end of the front rail; and

Figure 5 is a perspective detail of the end of the slide rail thatinterlocks with the front of the side wall. 7

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrateda preferred embodiment of my invention, there is shown only that portionof a sheet metal filing cabinet to which my invention is directed, theremaining portions of the cabinet not being shown inasmuch as they maybe of any standard or special construction.

Such a cabinet is generally prismatic in shape, one of the vertical sidewalls I being shown, the forward portion of said wallbeing first bent toprovide a relatively narrow vertically extending front face 2 and thenbent reentrantly so that the free edge 3 of the reentrant flange 4isdirected towardthe rear.of -:-said -side =wal1 for a short distance.If desired, said free edge may be provided with a slight rib 5 closethereto and extending the height of said wall.

At about each vertical interval where it is desired to locate thedrawer-receiving slide rails 6, there being two such intervals in theevent that the cabinet is to receive two horizontally slidable drawers,and three such intervals where three drawers are to be received, theflange is provided with an approximately horizontally extending, andrearwardly directed slot whose lower por-- tion is indicated at 1 andwhose upper portion is indicated at 8, it being noticed that the front.and rear ends of said slot is closed and terminating short of thecorresponding vertical edges of the flange for a purpose to be moreclearlyhereinafter described, the rear end terminating adjacent the rib5. Said slot is wider at its rear than at its front and it is to beespecially noted that the upper portion of said slot extends rearwardlybeyond the rear end of the lower portion of said slot.

The front rail element 9, that defines the drawer-receiving openingsinto the cabinet in the usual manner, and which is assembled intoposition so as to extend horizontally across the cabinet between a pairofside walls of the latter, may be of channel cross-sectional shape ifdesired, and provided with a lip element H) projecting linearly beyondeach end, the width of said lip being proportioned so that it may beinserted through the upper portion of the previously described slot;

Into the forward edge of said lip, at substantially its juncture withthe main body portion of the rail 9, there is a rearwardly directednotch, slit or recess ll whose depth is approximately equal to thedistance from the forward end of the slot through the flange 4 to theadjacent front edge 3 of the side wall.

With the slot so sized and shaped, and the lip constructed as aforesaid,the width of said lip is too great to permit entry through the lowerportion of the slot, but is insertible through the upper portion of thelatter. After insertion of the lip through said upper slot portion, therail may be shifted forwardly whereupon the slit II will receive andstraddle the flange material forwardly of the front end of said slot,until the closed end of said slit abuts said closed forward slot end, orthe forward edge of the lip abuts against the inside of the front edgeelement 3, as the case may be, whereupon the lip may be lowered at itsrear edge tobe received in and be firmly seated in the lower portion oftheslot.

Q'I'he flange also-provided-- with abut-out 3 l2 extending verticallyupwardly from a slight distance above said slot, being open at therearmost edge of said vertical flange and closed and terminating aslight distance forwardly of the rearmost end of the upper portion 8 ofthe slot.

The instant invention is especially intended for use with a suspensiontype of cabinet, that is one wherein the drawers are mounted to slide oncarriers that are in turn slidably mounted on the slide rails previouslymentioned.

There is a pair of such slide rails for each front rail mentioned, onesuch slide rail at each side wall, for connection to one end of thefront rail. The slide rail 6 is provided with a tongue element [3 at theend that is to be connected to the front of the cabinet, said tonguebeing struck. up from the metal of the approximately channel-shapedcross-section slide rail, and. being substantially coextensive with saidslide rail end thereat.

The line of juncture of said tongue and slide rail body is indicated atM and is slightly narrower than the rail thereat, and the distance thatthe tongue is struck up from the rail metal is sufficient to permit theflange 4. to be received in said space. The distance of the junctureline I4 from the adjacent forward end of the slide rail is such thatwhen said rail is shifted forwardly, with the forward or closed end ofthe cut-out straddled between the tongue and. rail I body portion, suchshifting will be limited by the abutment of said rail. abutting alongsaid juncture line, with the forward end of the cut-out. and whereuponthat portion of the slide rail below and forwardly of said juncture linewill overlap the rearmost portionof. the upper slot portion 8.

Assuming that the front rail has been inserted through the upper portionof. the slot through the flange and then shifted forwardly and loweredand seated in the lower slot portion, the assernbling of the slide railelement in the foregoing described mamier will be sufficient tov bringthe slide rail to be supported on the already seated front rail, and theoverlapping portion of the slide rail will close the rearward portion ofsaid slot sufficiently to limit tilting of said lip element. and preventwithdrawal of the lip element Ii from the slot.

If desired, additional securement between the several parts may besecured by a spot weld 15.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousimmaterial changes and modifications may be made in the same withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to beunderstood as limiting myself I,"

said parts together and comprisinga horizontally elongated slot throughsaidv wall adjacent its front, with the upper portion of said slotextending rearwardly beyond the lower portion thereof,

said front rail having an end portion insertiblethrough the upperportion of said slot but; not through the lower portion thereof, therebeing'a recess. in said railend portion extending, rear,- wardly andopening at its front edge and .whereby said rail end portion may beinserted through said upper slot portion and the rail then shiftedforwardly, with said recess straddling said side wall, and the frontrail then lowered into said lower slot portion to seat thereinto, saidslide-receiving rail having a tongue struck from the front end of itsmain body portion with the rear of said tongue being rearwardly of saidfront end of said slidereceiving rail so that the: adjacent portion ofsaid side wall may" be straddled between said tongue and the main bodyportion of the slide-receiving rail and the latter rail supported onsaid finally seated lowered front rail.

2. The combination and arrangement of elements as recited in claim 1,but characterized in that the attached end of said tongue is rearwardlyof the adjacent free end of the slide-receiving rail a sufficientdistance so that the slidereceiving rail rests on said seated front railand extends sufficiently forward. beyond-the rear end of said upper slotto close saidrear end of the upper slot portion.

3. The combniation and arrangement of elements described in claim 1 butfurther characterized in that the side wallhasa cut-outextendingvertically from a point spaced above the rear end of the upper slotportion and. with thedepth of said cut-out extending forwardly beyondthe rear-most end of said' upper slot portion, and further characterizedin that the-attached end of said tongue is rearwardly of the adjacentfree end of said slide-receiving rail: a distance approximately equal tothe depth of said cut-out, and with said tongue: narrower than saidadjacent free end of said slide-receiving rail, so that after the frontrail has been seated on the bottom portion of the slot, theslide-receiving rail may be shifted forwardly until the tongue; rear endabuts that portion of the side wall material. that defines the front:edge of said, cut-out, and the slide-receiving railend rests on saidseated front rail and closes said upper. portion of; theslot.

4. In a, filing cabinet provided with avertical side wall having arelatively narrow reentrant flange spaced therefrom and=extending1 alongits front, a horizontally extending: transverse front.

from the adjacent front and rear ends of said:

flange, said slot enlarged vertically toward its rear and with the upperportion of the'slot extending rearwardly beyond the adjacent lowerportion of the slot, said flange provided. with a.

vertically elongated cut-outspaced above saidslot and open at the rearand extending forwardly past-therear end: of saidiupperslot portion; one

end of said: front. rail. providedwith a linearly;

projecting lip along its front edge and of: such size that it is:insertible through the upper slot portion only, said lip -having;.a.notch: at' its juncture with the rail: body, said notch open at itsfront edge and extending;v rearwardly a. distance substantially equal tothe spacing. between: the

flange front edge; and; the: adjacent end of the slot, whereby said:front rail may be assembled in place by inserting said lip: through: theupper portion of said slot andthen shifted forwardly while the; flange:materialz'is straddled: by; said notch; and said;lip,: thenlowered; toseat: on the. bottom slot portion at.substantially the forward limit of.said shifting, said' slide-receiving: rail.

having at tongue-.strucki up at onei-endlanct whose:

5 free end terminates substantially co-extensive with the rail end, thelower edge of said tongue at its juncture with its rail being spacedsuch a distance above the lower edge of its rail that when said forwardedge of the cut-out is straddled between said tongue and adjacent railportion and the slide-receiving rail then shifted forwardly until therear end of the tongue abuts against said cut-out forward edge, theslide-receiving rail will be supported on said front rail and overlapsaid upper slot portion suficiently to limit tilting References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,934,644Rand Nov. 7, 1933 10 2,390,000 Sampson Nov. 27, 1945 2,606,091 Buchy eta1. Aug. 5, 1952

